Art Lovers Unite!
This week we start our commentary on the Manifesto. The main character is Active Resistance (AR).She invites you to go on a journey that will change your life.
Dear Friends, We all love art and some of us claim to be artists. Without judges, there is no art. She only exists when we know her. Does she exist? The answer to this question is of vital importance because if Art is alive the world will change. No Art, no true progress.
If you become an art lover you get strength. You get a sense of personal progress because you start to understand the world and your place in it. You get out what you put in. That’s my motto.
I’ve given a good summation of my thoughts in this video recorded at the Battersea Arts Centre in London.
As you can see when reading the Manifesto, we are travelling with Pinocchio and Alice. Next week, I’ll talk to you about Pinocchio. In the meanwhile, you might want to read The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Absolutely right beautiful mind. I loved to hear your words.
This video is a light in the way.
I can see that will be a new future to the world for the world, mankind & human being.
Comment by Dalva James on 04/12/2010 at 7:54 am
Well-spoken Vivienne.
We all are creators,
let’s become aware of this !
Comment by Marie Keh on 09/12/2010 at 9:39 pm
Wicked to see you using that well earned respect in such a fashion. I love your designs but fashion can be a fickle world and there are much more important things to think about. We all need to try and be more conscious and realise we are capable of so much ! It is only the beginning and i believe in HOPE. God bless you Viv ! Lots of love and respect x x x
Comment by jo on 10/12/2010 at 10:33 am
If I am lucky enough for you to read this, I’d like to ask you a question. You are a true inspirtation to me and this website has made me want to do something – you’ve made me realise that moving and doing doesn’t have to be just about other people, it can be about yourself. I’m a 14 year old girl from Manchester and I feel culture here is beginning to lack and I was wondering if you had any favourite places you like to visit around the North? All the best, Emily.
Comment by Emily on 14/12/2010 at 8:32 pm
Vivienne’s response to Emily:
I’m very impressed by a 14 year old girl being so serious. I think it’s really great. You’re lucky to live in Manchester because there are really interesting things for you to do and see there. Have you heard the Halle Orchestra which was founded in Manchester in 1858? They’ve been performing in Manchester and around the world for more than 150 years – and you can hear them at Bridgewater Hall. I first went to hear them in concert when I was your age. I knew nothing at all about classical music at the time. Handel’s ‘Water Music’ was being performed – I thought it would sound like water so I was listening for it throughout the programme. It was only much later that I found out that this incredibly exciting music was called Water Music because it was first played in 1777 on a barge on the River Thames in London, commissioned by King George I.
I was 17 when left Glossop for London and it was only a week or two before that I discovered there was an art gallery in Manchester – the Manchester Art Gallery. You can visit it now! I knew there were painters like Rembrandt but I somehow thought they were owned by private people – somewhere! The famous local painter is Lowry, obviously inspired by Dutch 17th century painting (especially the snow scenes). The peak of human achievement in painting was in the 17th century – Rembrandt, Titian, Velasquez. Remember, there is no progress in art.
Another great thing about Manchester is how easily you can get into the countryside. I’ve heard that the Pennines are the oldest hills in the world – they were once as high as Everest. My family were used to walking over these hills. When I was about 14, just your age, I got my school friends to all come with me on regular hikes around those hills. We used to take picnics. They had never been before and thought it was wonderful. I know the names of all the trees and birds. It would be wonderful if you could start to recognise all the different trees because it’s only by naming things that you start to understand them.
Everything is connected.
Comment by Vivienne on 07/01/2011 at 2:50 pm
Vivienne you really are a true inspiration. You make such a good point too. As a nation especially, we lack culture, and apart from the cup of tea there is nothing remarkably British to distinguish us from any other nation.
But not just that, like you say here, if we take to the galleries we can see the world in the past from different perspectives and to be able to do that is to be able to understand how time has changed the world and what it can mean for us as a race. From this we can know how to fully embrace our culture and our world, and learn so much about ourselves, and the people around us.
A true inspiration Vivienne, thank-you so much for this video!
Comment by James Emmett on 04/01/2011 at 9:15 am
🙂 I love your work. At the moment, at university I’m studying interior design, and I’m supposed to design a retail pop up shop for a brand I like. So I am doing Vivienne Westwood. I really wanted to do this, as I am really against people going crazy shopping and there are numerous campaigns all over, luring people to buy more. I admire you promoting “buy less, choose well”…So I am doing concept installation of a faux shop, which looks like a shop but when you go in, there are pieces that talk about your causes, and the design process behind your work, the craftsmanship etc. It is to be located near the arts center and the national gallery in Melbourne, where there is always lots of amazing shows that celebrate art history, theater and culture.
I hope it works….I am presenting the concept in 2 days. Super nervous.
Anyhow, I love what you do and things you stand for.
Comment by Niyati on 31/10/2012 at 7:40 am